Toolkit on Communication for Development (C4D)

Communication for Development (C4D), commonly known as “Communication for results” or “Strategic Communication”, is a tool as well as a process for the effective delivery of aid programmes. C4D approaches privilege a role for communication throughout the programme cycle, as opposed to exclusively as a dissemination function at the end of the programme.
Integrating communication as a management tool for project or programme has internal as well as external dimensions:
- Internally the emphasis is on harnessing communication as a tool for internal learning towards more joined-up action.
- Externally communication engages project or programme beneficiaries and other key stakeholders, including government officials and policy-makers. (Source: Study on Communicating Development Results, by Peter da Costa, commissioned by the OECD DAC Development Co-operation Directorate & DevCom Network, May 2009).

This page is an online collection of various sources, materials and information aimed at assisting development communicators in putting C4D into practice.

UN Inter-Agency Round Tables on Communication for Development

UN Inter-Agency Round Tables on Communication for Development bring together UN agencies and international partners to discuss and debate the very roles and practice of communication for development.

Overview of UN Inter-Agency Round Tables on Communication for Development (January 2009, 36 pages)
This paper provides an overview of the discussions and recommendations from all the ten UN Inter-agency Roundtables held since 1988. It divides the Roundtables into three broad phases and places them within the wider changes in the UN organizational and policy context as well as within the global trends in information and communication.

Developing a UN system-wide common approach to communication for development in view of acheiving the Millennium Development Goals,10th UN Inter-Agency Round Table on Communication for Development (Addis Ababa, 12-14 February 2007)

Moving C4D up the International Development Agenda: Demonstrating Impact and Positioning Institutionally, 11th UN Inter-Agency Round Table on Communication for Development (11-13 March 2009, Washington)

UNICEF Bangladesh Programme Communication Coordination Team has prepared this Guideline has developed this tool to guide the actual writing of a communication strategy for a programme or a project, a strategy that supports a programme to achieve its development goals, especially its social and behavioural objectives. This tool guides the writer of the strategy to use results of research and various analyses to shape communication approaches into a strategy document.

The paper demonstrates that integrating C4D processes into the CCA and UNDAF strengthens UN Country Team (UNCT) analysis and adds value to its collective programme response to identified national priorities. It also notes the close alignment between aspects of the existing CCA/UNDAF guidelines and principles of C4D, and identifies possible C4D ‘entry points’, which should be discussed with UNDG as part of a process to ensure explicit incorporation of C4D into subsequent revisions of the guidelines.

This review examines why and how the role of communication can be mainstreamed into programme-based approaches (PBAs), one of the main methods now used by bilateral donors to disburse funding to developing countries. Developed in association with (but is published independently of) the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), this review is intended for three types of audience: communication and media practitioners who work in support of development objectives, or who have a link with the development and aid sectors; donors and developing country policymakers concerned with increasing public understanding and engagement within developing countries with the development system; and country-based organisations that provide technical support and conduct advocacy to prioritise communication and media issues among donors and governments.

At the heart of change: the role of communication in sustainable development, Panos London (September 2007, 36 pages)
Panos London sets out what it believes should be the role of communication in long-term, sustainable development. It challenges governments and all involved in policy-making and planning to listen to the views of ordinary people, to involve civil society in decision-making and to recognise the important part the media can play in debating development issues and challenging government accountability.

UNESCO helps to strenghten the capacities of communication institutions, to improve the training of media professionals and to raise awareness among the public in making best use of communication resources.

The IPDC is the only multilateral forum in the UN system designed to mobilize the international community to discuss and promote media development in developing countries. The Programme not only provides support for media projects but also seeks an accord to secure a healthy environment for the growth of free and pluralistic media in developing countries.

World Bank's Voice through Media programme: Empowering the Poor Through Community Radio.
The World Bank Institute (WBI) is supporting a Bank-wide Grassroots Media Program to strengthen the community radio sector and the climate for public interest media in developing countries. This is a relatively new area of World Bank involvement. It is supported by the Bank’s program to enhance policies, institutions and capacities for Civic Engagement, Empowerment, and Respect for Diversity (CEERD).

Communication for Empowerment: developing media strategies in support of vulnerable groups (March 2006, 50 pages)
This UNDP Practical Guidance Note aims to demonstrate that media can play a crucial role in empowering vulnerable and marginalized groups. This can best be achieved if media support and media capacity development is directed in a way that enables the media to better respond to and reflect the information and communication needs of these groups. This kind of media support can be called Communication for Empowerment.

This document highlights methods for enabling inhabitants in a country to influence the work of government. Public bodies are in focus. It defines communication as both a concept and a method. It recognizes different types of working methods such as those with communication elements that are process-driven and participatory, as well as those that are about distributing information.It identifies possible stakeholders, entry points and opportunities for using communication within program-based approaches with a main focus on public bodies. It further provides a menu of key issues for planning, review, assessment and follow-up at different levels and in different areas, intrinsically highlighting the roles of civil society and the media.

The Communication Initiative network is an online space for sharing the experiences of, and building bridges between, the people and organisations engaged in or supporting communication as a fundamental strategy for economic and social development and change. It does this through a process of initiating dialogue and debate and giving the network a stronger, more representative and informed voice with which to advance the use and improve the impact of communication for development. This process is supported by web-based resources of summarised information and several electronic publications, as well as online research, review, and discussion platforms providing insight into communication for development experiences.

Contact

For questions or submission of tools on Communication for Development please contact the DevCom Team.